Hartley, James. (1997) Applying Psychology to Text Design: A Case History.
International Forum on Information and Documentation 22 (1) 3-10
Copyright - this article is reproduced with the kind permission of the
International Forum on Information and Documentation Applying Psychology to Text Design:
A Case History

The aim of this paper is to indicate the nature of applied psychology
and the skills that applied psychologists can bring to the area of text
design. These skills are illustrated with examples from the authorís own
work and that of colleagues conducted over a twenty-five year period.

People in the field of information science play a variety of roles and
use a variety of skills to carry out their work effectively. Applied psychologists
similarly, use a variety of roles and use a variety of skills in this respect
[1]. In this paper I want to describe - using a case-history format - how
I have applied my skills as a psychologist to the area of text design.
My purpose in doing this is to convey the flavour of the work of applied psychologists to readers who may not be familiar with what psychologists actually do.

Text design

In terms of text design, I think there are at least six major roles
and skills that applied psychologists deploy. These are:

1. to offer a different perspective from that of other colleagues;

2. to provide expert opinion, based on research and practice;

3. to develop and/or use appropriate measures to help resolve pertinent
issues;

4. to establish and evaluate the evidence for different points of view;

5. to develop and test theories that will lead to new knowledge; and

6. to act as an agent for change.

Let me illustrate in turn the part that each of these roles has played
in my

research.

A different perspective

Psychologists in the field of text design often work independently,
and they present the results of their deliberations for others to consider.
Thus psychology makes only a partial contribution to a total team effort.
However, when making their contribution, psychologists offer a particular
perspective. This perspective draws particular attention to human factors.
Other professionals in the team will focus, for example, on the design
of the product, the methods of reproduction, and the costs of making, storing
and distributing it. All of these are relevant and important, but each
is only a part of the total working system. By their training applied psychologists
consider problems from the point of view of the end user, and thus appear
perhaps to be more conscious of the perspective of the individual in the
system. This perspective, of course, is not the sole prerogative of psychologist
-other professionals - human factors experts, for example, also take it
- but it is one that is salient in psychology. For example, psychologists
seem far more aware of the difficulties a person will have reading a leaflet
in a medical package than do the producers of such leaflets [see 2, 3].

Howarth [4] pointed out that many errors in the past (in architectural
planning and in the design of nuclear power station control-panels, to
give but two examples) could have been avoided if psychologists had been
involved at the design stage. Indeed, Howarth suggests that one of the
chief functions of psychologists is to prevent other experts from 'going
it alone'. In the present context of text design psychologists are thus
likely to point to limitations in people's ability to read and to remember
[5], to indicate how prior experience will affect how people interpret
text [6], and to suggest how confusion in readers can be avoided [7].

In offering advice of this kind it is, of course, essential to be familiar
with the constraints and methods of thinking and working of other members
in the team. I have argued elsewhere that much of the early typographic
research carried out by psychologists had little practical impact because
it was not related to knowledge of this kind [8]. It was only when psychologists
began to work with other practitioners in the field that their research
on typography began to be of value to them. Information scientists, too,
have profited from the collaboration between disciplines [e.g., see 9,
10].

Examples. Figures 1a and 1b give a good example of how a psychologist's
perspective can change the appearance of text. Here the original text was
produced by a teacher. I provided the suggested revision. Many other examples
of this kind are provided in a series of Ďbeforeí and Ďafterí illustrations
in my books [11, 12].

--------------------------------

GUIDE

"MATERIALS AND STRUCTURE" SHEET PN4 (1)

TIME: About 4 weeks NAME...................................

This GUIDE SHEET will be very important to you during your study of
NUFFIELD PHYSICS PART 4, UNIT 1, and should be firmly fastened in the front
of your file. This GUIDE SHEET tells you the order of doing your work.

Where you see (O) against a piece of work this means that you must see
your teacher before starting that piece of work.

Where you see (M) against a piece of work this means that you must have
that piece of work marked.

Where you see (T) against a piece of work this means that you must carry
out that piece of work with your teacher.

Where you are told to read a section from a book etc., this means that
you first of all read the section, then read it again preparing a written
summary which is then placed in your file.

STAGE
ITEM &nbsp
; &n
bsp;
MARK

1. WORK SHEET 1 (M)

2. Read Chapter 4 "The New Science of Strong Materials". A brief look
at
"Materials" - Longmans Physics Topics, would also be useful.

3. PROJECT SHEET 1 (M)

4. Discussion 1 "Choice of material" (T)

5. TEST SHEET 1

6. Read "Materials and their uses"

7. Read "Amount of substance, the mole concept, and its use in solving
problems". Nuffield Advanced Chemistry Section A Chapter 1. (O)

specimen" and "Determination of wavelength of X-rays using a diffraction
grating".

22. TEST SHEET 4 (M)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 1a. A page from a school science worksheet. Note how this
suffers from poor spatial organisation and confusing text. (Figure reproduced
with permission of the author.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A psychologist may be called in as an expert to advise on some topic
- such as the typographic layout of a journal [e.g. see 13]. In carrying
out this role of 'expert' psychologists draw upon their specialised knowledge,
ideas, theories, and practical knowledge. Often, in this context, psychologists
are asked to make suggestions about a proposed project and to pontificate,
as it were, from on high. In this situation the psychologist usually explains
that things are more complex than many people think, and points out issues
that have not been properly considered. In this context these issues may
be ones of human factors or typographic matters.

Example. I am reminded at this point of an editor of a new journal
who asked me - as his first question - what type-size his journal
should employ. I had gently to explain that a decision about type-size
was not a decision that could be made on its own without first considering
several other related issues - such as page-size and column widths.

Developing and using measures

Psychologists use and develop appropriate measures and techniques to
help in examining and analysing problems. In terms of text design, the
kinds of things I have in mind here are measures of reading difficulty
and measures of reading comprehension to name but two. But questionnaires
and interview schedules are also appropriate tools to use on occasions
[see 14, 15]. All such measures have their own, highly complex, technology.
Because of this psychologists are more aware of their limitations, and
thus they are likely to use these measures with the appropriate caution
that is sometimes lacking in non-experts [16].

Examples. In my work I have used a variety of measures to test
the effectiveness of changes made to text. In an early paper we examined
the reliability of measures such as oral reading, silent reading, scanning,
searching, recalling and comprehending text [17]. We argued that different
measures were appropriate for different objectives. In more recent work
[12, 18], I have been at pains to point out that it is better to use a
variety of methods in combination to measure the effectiveness of text
than it is to rely on one measure alone. Thus, in a study of the effectiveness
of different ways of presenting journal abstracts, we used readability
measures, comprehension measures and reader preferences [18]. In this case
all three measures provided supporting evidence for the effectiveness of
the changes made.

Currently I am particularly interested in the continuing controversy
over the value of 'readability formulae', particularly now that these rather
dubious measures are computer-based and easily accessible to writers with
word processors [19, 20]. These formulae are applied to text in order to
predict its suitability for readers of different ages (e.g., 21, 22]. Despite
the fact that there is wide evidence for the weaknesses of such measures
in doing this [23], they are still popular. Figures 2a and 2b show two
pieces of text. The shorter one of the two is generally judged to be the
more difficult to understand [24] - but readability formulae suggest that
the second piece is harder than the first. The comprehension measures thus
suggest that the readability formulae are wrong here - and this points
to the fundamental difficulty with these measures. Another problem is that
different computer programs that ostensibly provide the same measure of
text difficulty (e.g., a Flesch readability score) actually provide different
scores for complex texts [19, 20].

-------------------------------

El Nino

From time to time the warm current that flows along the coast of Ecuador
moves south and pushes the Peru Current away from the coast. This event
is called El Nino because it takes place around Christmastime. El Nino
means "the child," which is what Spanish-speaking people call the baby
Jesus.

When El Nino comes, it brings bad times to Peruís coast. Heavy rains
cause flooding and landslides. Millions of fish die because the warm water
has less oxygen and food. When the fish die, thousands of birds starve
to death too.

In 1973, Peruís fish catch was about 15 percent of what it had been
in 1970. Part of the problem was caused by overfishing, which had begun
to lower the fish supply before 1973. El Nino, however, was the main cause
of the problem.

Peruís fishing industry recovered, but it is not likely to ever reach
again the high point of 1970. Overfishing, along with El Nino, nearly destroyed
a valuable resource.

Figure 2(a)

El Nino

Every three to five years, the Pacific Oceanís current changes abruptly
along the western coastline of South America and causes serious economic
hardship for the people of Peru. This sudden change is called El Nino,
which means "the child Jesus," because it occurs right after Christmastime.

When El Nino happens two very important climate changes occur. The usually
cool Pacific waters become warmer close to the coast, and there is ten
times the normal amount of rainfall.

The country of Peru suffers the most from the effects of El Nino. The
coastal water that is now warmer from El Nino kills millions of fish that
are used to living in cooler water. Because the fish die, thousands of
birds who feed on the fish die also. The extreme rainfall from El Nino
causes severe flooding and landslides in the agricultural regions of Peru.

1973 was an El Nino year. The difficulties for Peru were especially
serious because of another problem. The problem of overfishing had already
reduced the once abundant fish supply. The El Nino made things worse by
further reducing the fish supply to a very small percentage of its former
level.

Peruís fishing industry has not returned to the supply levels that existed
before 1973. Since that time, El Nino has continued to affect Peru severely.
As a result, Peruís fishing and agricultural industries are still in the
process of recovery.

Figure 2(b)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 2(a) and (b). An original and a revised piece of text. Note:
readers judge the longer text easier to understand, but readability formulae
indicate that it is more difficult. (Texts reproduced, with permission
from the authors and Reading Research Quarterly.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Establishing evidence

Psychologists are taught as students to collect and analyse data, to
draw conclusions and to write reports. Psychology as a discipline emphasises
the need for objectivity and controlled experimentation, and encourages
its members to be conscious of the dangers of subjectivity and bias. Many
applied psychologists carry out evaluation studies in order to assess the
evidence for and against a particular point of view. Thus, for example,
there are studies on the design of questionnaires and forms [25, 26], on
the best way to show data graphically [27, 28], and on issues such as type-sizes
and type-faces [29], to list just three research areas.

Some people think that the detached approach of the scientific method
is frequently inappropriate for studying topics such as these [e.g. see
30, 31]. There are two main reasons for this view. Firstly, it is almost
impossible to control many of the relevant interacting variables that will
affect the results. Secondly, the results of one particular study are always
specific to one set of conditions - and thus one cannot generalise widely
from them. Attempts to overcome these difficulties require psychologists
to use more flexible but less precise methods, and to carry out analyses
that are more subjective [see 14, 15]. Nonetheless, I would argue that
the data from these investigations are still more open and more objective
than are simple value judgements. As a psychologist I argue that the biases
of outside observers are likely to be less partial than the biases of those
who hold vested interests.

Examples. I have carried out many experiments to examine the
effectiveness of different features in instructional text. Thus, for example,
I have looked at the effectiveness of summaries, headings, justified versus
unjustified text, the typographic denotation of paragraphs, and the typographic
design of indexes, references, and contents pages [32 - 28]. These topics,
of course, have also been studied by other colleagues [see 12, 39]. On
most occasions I think that issues have been clarified but, often, the
results of experiments suggest additional questions that need to be explored.

In addition, a difficult issue here is how to persuade people to implement
your findings. I well remember how one publisher told me that he would
not follow my suggestion that he print references in a single- rather than
a double-column arrangement at the end of a scientific article. References
in single-columns, he firmly told me, took up more space. To test this
notion I had a list of references typed in single- and in double-column
versions. Much to his surprise (and mine) there was no difference in the
amount of vertical space consumed. However, the publisher then replied,
as firmly as before, that readers preferred a double-column.

Recently my colleague and I have suggested a considerable advantage
for readers of social science journals for what are called 'structured
abstracts' [40-43]. (These abstracts, which are common in medical journals,
have sub-headings such as background, aims, methods, results and
conclusions to make their structure clearer.) However, persuading
journal editors to implement structured abstracts in social science journals
has been quite difficult - but not impossible. Structured abstracts are
due to appear in the British Journal of Clinical psychology, the
British Journal of Educational Psychology, and the British Journal
of Health Psychology from January, 1997. However, the usual response
of editors is that, as such abstracts are usually twenty percent longer
than ones set in the traditional format, they will - again - take up more
space. In making these comments, these editors conveniently forget that
much more space is often wasted in journals simply because new articles
typically start on a new page, and often - as in this journal-
on a new right-hand page at that!

Theories and new knowledge

Theories consist of several principles (or a collection of general interrelated
principles) that are put forward as an explanation of a set of known facts
and empirical findings. In collecting evidence to resolve a problem, or
in giving advice, theories can suggest the underlying mechanisms or processes
that might be involved. Theories can suggest where to look for causes,
and how to design specific enquiries to support or reject a particular
point of view.

Theories help psychologists to explain and predict on a wider scale
and in circumstances that may not have been studied before. Some psychologists
- such as Broadbent [44] - believed that the results from applied psychology
influence theoretical psychology, rather than the reverse (see the discussion
of this by Warr [45]). I myself hold the view that results from applied
psychology can indeed influence theoretical psychology but that this, in
turn, can influence applied psychology again.

Examples. In my own work I have viewed myself as a practitioner
rather than a theorist. I believe that it is important to have data before
one can start to theorise. I have expressed this view most clearly in my
work on headings in text. In one paper Mark Trueman and I reported the
results from nineteen experiments designed to tease out what were the important
variables to consider when using headings and assessing their effectiveness
[33]. We suggested that, having cleared the ground, people were now in
a better position to theorise.

I suppose, though, I do hold a theory of sorts. I believe that it is
the appropriate use of space rather than the typographic detailing that
best depicts the underlying structure of text. Consequently I advocate
the use of consistent and precisely specified rules of spacing for the
production of text [12], and I do not hold with any wishy-washy statements
about 'using white-space generously' to make text look attractive. In my
view it is essential to be very precise about the use of space in documents.

In this respect I am particularly pleased with the evidence that I have
gathered over the years about the relative importance of space rather than
typographic detailing to show the structure of items such as references,
contents pages, and journal abstracts [37, 38, 41]. In these studies reader
preferences are clear. Readers like the structure of such text to be denoted
first by its spatial arrangement, and they then like it better if the spatial
arrangement is enhanced by typographic cues. But if they have to choose
between a spatial arrangement without typographic enhancement and a typographical
arrangement without spatial enhancement, they go for the former every time.
Figures 3a, 3b and 3c show an example.

The text shown in Figure 3 is, of course, highly structured. I maintain,
nonetheless, that my arguments also apply to less well-structured text.
As shown earlier in Figure 1b, consistent spacing clarifies the structure
of text. Clearer structures support clearer thinking.

Figure 3. Three different ways of presenting journal references in
increasing order of preference. Note that readers prefer most the spatial
arrangement enhanced by typographic cueing (Version C). However, if they
are not given this choice, they prefer Version B (the spatial arrangement
without typographic cueing) to Version A (the traditional arrangement with
typographic cues).

Applied psychologists are involved in helping people, institutions and
organisations. This means that they believe their work will change people
and society for the better (whatever they perceive this to be). In this
context, psychologists are concerned (i) to prevent people from making
mistakes (for example by using new technology - such as word processors
- inappropriately) and (ii) to enable people to communicate more effectively.

Examples. Practically everything I have ever done is imbued with
these concerns. I have tried to show people that it is very easy to make
mistakes but that it is not difficult to make text easier to read, and
easier to use. I have done this in specialist practitioner journals, in
general articles, and in textbooks. I have especially considered the implications
of my work for the visually impaired [12] and for older readers [12, 46].
My prime concern, however, has been to demonstrate these ideas to psychologists
in general and to my students in particular. I have tried to show people
that applied psychology is rewarding.

[41] J. Hartley and M. Sydes, Which layout do you prefer? An analysis
of readersí preferences for different typographic layouts of structured
abstracts, Journal of Information Science, (22) (1) (1996) 27-37.